Man United, Liverpool… FIVE of the worst Deadline Day buys

Only a few hours left until the summer transfer window slams shut, and there’s still plenty of business to be done, both good and bad.

It’s a well known fact that most of the business done on Deadline Day is pure gambling by managers desperate to bolster their squad in such little time.

But what are the worst Transfer Deadline Day buys in recent history. There’ve been so many it’d be unfair to keep you away from the final few hours’ of action for so long, so here’s just five of them for you to reminisce while you wait for your club to make an absolutely shocking buy.

Without further delay, let’s begin…
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Click on Harry Redknapp to reveal

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5. Owen Hargreaves, Free Agent to Manchester City, August 2011

Owen Hargreaves was signed by Manchester City after being released by their rivals Manchester United earlier in the summer. City brought the player in after a thorough medical (which I think included watching the YouTube clip of him running on a treadmill!) and signed him to a one-year contract. The England international only made one Premier League appearance for City before being released on a free at the end of season.

4. Christopher Samba, Anzhi Makhachkala to QPR, January 2013

Described by Harry Redknapp as “a monster”, Christopher Samba was brought to QPR from Anzhi Makhachkala in order to help the side avoid relegation from the Premier League. QPR parted with £12m and gave the centre back a four-and-a-half year contract and £100,000 in wages per week to bring him to London.

He played 10 games straight but the team conceded 19 goals within that time period. Samba was dropped for the final four games and QPR were still relegated. He was sold back to Anzhi for the same fee the following summer. He now plays his football for Dynamo Moscow.

3. Marouane Fellaini, Everton to Manchester United, August 2013

Manchester United agreed a fee with Everton of £27.5m for Marouane Fellaini on last year’s transfer deadline day on a five-year deal. Throughout the summer, United targeted Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara to strengthen their weak midfield after the retirement of Paul Scholes and with Darren Fletcher still being injured.

The Red Devils could have signed Fellaini for his release clause of £23.5m earlier in the transfer window, £4m less than what they paid for him, but this release clause expired on the 31st July. He struggled to make an impact for United last season after only making 16 appearances and has recently been linked with a move away from Old Trafford.

2. Andy Carroll, Newcastle to Liverpool, January 2011

Liverpool broke the record at the time for the highest amount ever paid by one club to another club for a British player when they purchased Andy Carroll for £35m from Newcastle.

Brought in as part of the scheme to replace Fernando Torres, questions were asked if Carroll would do a decent job as he was yet to play a full season in the Premier League due to injury. Injuries followed him to Liverpool as he didn’t make his debut till March. He only managed to score 11 goals from 58 appearances before being loaned out for a season to West Ham.

Carroll made a permanent move to West Ham in the summer of 2013 for £15m.

1. Fernando Torres, Liverpool to Chelsea, January 2011

Earlier on the same day as the Andy Carroll transfer, Fernando Torres had moved to Chelsea from Liverpool for a sum of £50m, a British transfer record at the time. Torres has only managed to score 45 goals in 172 appearances in the three-and-a-half years he has been at Chelsea, meaning each one of his goals has cost Chelsea around £1.1m.

His best goal tally in a single Premier League season for Chelsea was eight goals, which is poor when compared to the fact he actually scored nine goals for Liverpool in the half season he was there before his move away.

Torres is now playing his football for AC Milan on loan from Chelsea and in my opinion he has to go down as one of the worst deadline day signings in Premier League history.